Other State Information

DNR's Land Conservation

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been a
national leader in land conservation for more than forty years. The
DNR programs listed below have all brought national recognition to
Maryland and are used by other states to model programs that will
repeat the success Maryland has had with Land Conservation.
Together, these programs will continue to meet the challenges of
land conservation for our citizens.

Program Open Space (POS) acquires recreation and open space areas
for public use. The Program administers funds made available to
local communities for open and recreational space through the State
real estate transfer tax and from federal programs, such as the Land
and Water Conservation Fund of the National Park Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior. The Program coordinates the acquisition
of lands for the use of all units of DNR.

POS funds are split between State and local government.

Stateside POS funds are allocated to purchase land for state parks,
forests, wildlife habitat, natural, scenic and cultural resources
for public use. A portion of stateside funds are also dedicated to
capital improvements, critical maintenance, and operations in state
parks. Stateside POS projects are now being driven by a new
Targeting System, which uses the best scientific information
available to target the program's limited funds.

The Local side of POS makes funds available to local government to
help them buy land and build park facilities that will help them
meet their specific goals of Land Conservation and Recreation for
their citizens. To date over 5,000 local grants projects have either
acquired land or built facilities for Maryland's' conservation and
recreation needs.

Maryland's Rural Legacy (RLP) was created within the DNR to preserve
large blocks of working rural lands for future generations. The
Program protects natural, cultural, agricultural, forest and
environmental resources from urban sprawl development and promotes
land conservation statewide by granting funds to local governments
and land trusts to conserve land through easement and fee purchases
within designated rural legacy areas. The RLP is using an objective
scoring approach similar to the POS Targeting to review and allocate
its limited grant funds.

The Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) was formed in 1967 to
conserve, improve, stimulate, and perpetuate the aesthetic, natural,
scenic and cultural aspects of the Maryland environment. The Trust
also promotes conservation of open space, and appreciation of the
environment and its care. Four main programs come under the Trust:
Conservation Easements, Keep Maryland Beautiful, Local Land Trust
Assistance, and Rural Historic Village Protection.